Are you really able to claim your council tax and housing benefits at this time? If this is a question that is lingering in your mind at this time, perhaps this piece will serve to inspire you greatly. If you have been searching and are getting tired of claiming your housing benefits or council benefits mainly because your family earns a low income, you might as well have had your applications annulled. In the modern day, you don’t have to suffer simply because your income is low. The roles of the game have changed and certainly, the procedures for claiming housing and council benefits have changed greatly.

Since the rules used in the assessment of income have changed in many parts of the world, this means that you might be eligible to receive housing benefits and council tax benefits without any much hassle. Since this is the case, you might have to start applying for a new claim. Whether it is council tax, council tax benefits or housing benefits, be rest assured that the whole process is more of streamlined today than the case was a couple of years ago. The United Kingdom is one of the areas where the rules of the game have been changing over the years. So how do you know that you are eligible to claim your benefits?

If you have a family and kids whom you normally claim allowances for, then this information might mean a lot to you in terms of the changes that are related to the assessment of family income which means that you might be eligible to get some council or housing tax benefits. Since November 2009 in the United Kingdom, child income benefits would no longer be taken into consideration and therefore cannot be classified as part of your total income. Again, depending on how close you actually were to getting a benefits claim and the amount of benefits you are claiming, this might mean all the difference when it comes to eligibility or entitlement to council tax or council tax benefits.

In the past, when you were applying for housing benefits, any incomes and savings also including a wide range of benefits that you claim for your children all would be taken into account. This is because they are considered as part of your total income. However, today, this has changed; these kinds of benefits are no longer considered as part of your income. At least by so doing so, the council has lowered the burden on you in terms of taxes and commissions. In such an environment, many people see it as being very easy to claim their housing and council tax benefits. In the past, this was pretty much not achievable.

All these elements are good news to those families which earn a low income. So, the question that remains unanswered is, how do you know when to place a claim? Thanks to the advent of the internet, hundreds of councils across the globe have websites online. These websites feature a benefits calculator; you can use one of these so as to find out whether you are eligible or not. The benefits calculator is just an online form that you have to fill in. Once you submit the details, the site will respond by stating whether you can claim your benefits or you are not qualified for that.

Why the change?

The main reason why councils are no longer factoring child income into your total income is because they are trying to lower the degree of child poverty. This new method used in calculating family income is more of a welcome option that is aimed at ensuring that families with low incomes gain access to assistance. This is contrary to the past cases where families with low incomes had to struggle on. At least, this comes as more of a reprieve to many families across the globe.

The aspect of council tax and council tax benefits for many families with low incomes is rather great news; the kind of news that cannot just be overlooked. However, as much as this is the case, many families are still not aware of these changes; they still use the old methods to calculate their incomes. In the end, they are not able to get any housing benefits, leave alone the council tax benefits. It is important for all people to revise their housing benefits for more information just to be sure that they are getting fair judgment when it comes to placing and applying for claims. Claimants therefore have to make themselves aware of these adjustments so as to be sure that they are filing the right amount of tax returns at all times. There is really no shortcut to that. I believe you now know something about council tax and council tax benefits. You can browse through the internet to get more details which might serve to inspire you a great deal.